On a menu full of appealing pork- and beef-centric dishes at the Rumpus Room downtown, it was the octopus salad that leaped out.

Such clean, nimble flavors - this was an irresistible dish, light and bright on the palate. True, the meat dishes have clear, big flavors, too; nothing is muddled on this menu. But that salad, with its herb and citrus note and contrasting textures, is compelling. | March 22, 2013»Read Full Article(1)

A taco truck called El Comedor is having its grand opening today at its regular location, on S. 6th St. at W. Greenfield Ave.

Natalio Perez, who worked in the kitchen at Five O'Clock Steakhouse for about six years before launching his business, said he plans to serve the mole of his native state of Oaxaca, Mexico, as one of the truck's daily specials, likely on Wednesdays. | Sept. 1, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

■Amber Pacific, "The Turn" (Digitally Sound). On a crowd-funded disc, this band from Washington state reunites with original lead singer Matt Young and MxPx bassist Mike Herrera for some of that punk-pop the Warped kids like.

■Blonde Redhead, "Barragán" (Kobalt). Italian brothers and a Japanese singer, all three settled as much as humans can be in New York City, are subtly unsettled and accessibly difficult on their ninth album as the "No Wave"-influenced, Sonic Youth-comparable Blonde Redhead. | Sept. 1, 2014»Read Full Article

As a prelude to the "Smith Uncovered" concert Oct. 18, I'm posting my reflections on Patti Smith's albums, one at a time in chronological order, on Mondays and Wednesdays.

"Sometimes I think of us as the last of the sixties bands," said guitarist Lenny Kaye of the original Patti Smith Group. "We liked those long rambling songs, we liked twenty minutes of improvisation," Kaye is quoted as saying in Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain's "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk." | Sept. 1, 2014»Read Full Article